As good as Hakeem Olajuwon was for the Rockets, Moses Malone was better.  Malone’s career really started to take off with the Rockets early on in his career.  Malone dominated the paint and he was an incredible offensive player for the Rockets.  In 1978-79, Malone played in 82 games in which he averaged 41.3 minutes, 24.8 points, 17.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  He was also awesome in 1981-82, when he played in 81 games for the Rockets in which he averaged 42.0 minutes, 31.1 points, 14.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  Malone played in 464 games in his six years with the Rockets and he averaged 38.3 minutes, 24.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Malone is still #2 in offensive rebounds (3,009) in Rockets’ history.  He is also #2 in defensive rebounds (3,950), #3 in total rebounds (6,959), #3 in blocked shots (758) and #5 in points scored (11,119) in Rockets’ history.  Malone was elected into Basketball’s Hall of Fame in 2011.

SG/SF Rodney McCray was a solid player for the Rockets. He played in 405 games (361 starts) in his five years with the Rockets and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. His best season with the Rockets came back in 1986-87, when he played in 81 games (all starts) in which he averaged 38.7 minutes, 14.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting a very impressive 55.2% from the floor. McCray is still #8 in offensive rebounds (955) and #10 in defensive rebounds (1,763) in Rockets’ history.

Center Hakeem Olajuwon was the best player on the best teams in Houston Rockets’ history. He played in 1,177 games in his 17 years with the Rockets and he averaged 36.4 minutes, 22.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.2 blocked shots per game. Olajuwon is the Rockets’ all-time leader in games played (1,177), points (26,511), rebounds (13,382), steals (2,088) and blocked shots (3,740). He is also #3 in Rockets’ history in assists with 2,992 of them. Olajuwon was elected into Basketball’s Hall of Fame in 2008. Back when Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson played together, they were nicknamed the Twin Towers!

C/PF Ralph Sampson was only on the Houston Rockets for 5 years, but they were good ones. Sampson played in 305 games (291 starts) in his five seasons with the Rockets and he averaged 35.0 minutes, 19.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Sampson is still #8 in Rockets’ history in rebounds (3,189) and he’s also #4 in blocked shots (585).Sampson was part of the “Twin Towers” with Hakeem Olajuwon as they were both over 7 feet tall. A lot of people remember Sampson because of when he got thrown out of a game in the NBA finals when he got into it with backup point guard Jerry Sichting. Celtics’ coach K.C. Jones had to cover his mouth to cover up his glee about it. But, Sampson played in 20 playoffs games in 1985-86 and he averaged 37.1 minutes, 20.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.8 blocked shots. Sampson was never the same as a player after he left the Rockets.

Point guard Kenny “The Jet” Smith is more than just Charles Barkley’s partner on TNT NBA broadcasts. He was also the starting point guard for the 1993-94 and the 1994-95 Houston Rockets who won NBA Championships. Smith played in 468 games in his six seasons with the Rockets and he averaged 29.3 minutes, 12.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Despite only playing six years with the Rockets, Smith is #5 all-time in assists in team history with 2,457. He also is tied for tenth in Rockets’ history with 467 steals. Smith was a very solid player on Hakeem Olajuwon’s team.